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A07116	A defence of priestes mariages stablysshed by the imperiall lawes of the realme of Englande, agaynst a ciuilian, namyng hym selfe Thomas Martin doctour of the ciuile lawes, goyng about to disproue the saide mariages, lawfull by the eternall worde of God, [and] by the hygh court of parliament, only forbydden by forayne lawes and canons of the Pope, coloured with the visour of the Churche. Whiche lawes [and] canons, were extynguyshed by the sayde parliament ...	Parker, Matthew, 1504-1575.; Morison, Richard, Sir, d. 1556, attributed name.; Ponet, John, 1516?-1556, attributed name.	1567 (1567)	STC 17519; ESTC S112350	311,635	404

to expende and to expound the lawes of the realme in suche preiudiciall maner as he doth I would faine knowe how he can glose that Acte of Parliamente made in the .xxxij. yere of that noble Kyng Henry the eighte whiche is not as yet repealed but confirmed a newe for some parte thereof concernyng the prohibitions of the Leuiticall Lawe and standeth in sure force at this very daie wherein is plainly expressed that no reseruation or prohibition Goddes Lawe except shall trouble or empeche any mariage without the saied Leuiticall degrees And that all suche bee lawfull persones to contracte whiche bee not prohibited by Gods lawe to marrie I thinke this man can not saye that priestes mariages bee within suche degrees Ergo thei ought not to be troubled or impeched as this Lawe commaundeth And where this doctor writeth in th ende of his .ix. Chapiter full learnedly bee ye suer R. ij specially for a greate maister of the Chauncerie that the two actes in Kyng Edwardes daies aucthorisyng priestes mariages doeth not take a waie the penalties of the Canon lawe whiche assertion for the like how far it may be extended let wise menne iudge But if thei did he saieth yet could not the priestes take any aduauntage by them longer then thei did continue And he addeth his reason because saith he the auncient lawes of the churche as sone as the saied two statutes were taken awaie came straight in force againe Further saieth he for that thei were neuer extinguished but only for a time shadowed and brought a slepe And this he saieth is the opinion of the chief Doctors of the Ciuill lawe Now Master Ciuilian if ye had alledged this opinion as of suche as be learned and beareth good hartes to their owne naturall lawe of the realme your saiyng had been better proued in my conceite And I doubt muche whether it bee true that ye saie that the beste Ciuilians agréeth with you I thinke if it were searched there might be found as good Ciuilians comparable with those whom ye note to bee the chief Doctors of the Ciuill that bee not in your iudgemente in this your gaye booke And whether ye haue any manne learned in the temporall lawe that will ioyne in this opinion with your chief doctors in the Ciuill Lawe I would yet wishe eu●n those though ye haue craftly trained them into suche opinion by the odiousnes of this cause of the poore priestes yet to aduise thē well for suche causes might arise to them selues in compasse of seuen yeares in the like cases that peraduenture thei would wishe not to haue it so vniuersally concluded as ye conclude it But sir yet let me aske you a question by the occasion offred of that Lawe of Kyng Henrie Anno. xxcij where it is determined in lawe wherof I thinke ye cannot shewe the like in this realme since Brute came first into England and ye knowe that it is a great wonder to your wit for thinges to come in law that fewe menne hath seen the like example before tymes I meane I saie for the nature of precontractes whiche by that statute bee vtterly voide if a second contract followeth and bee consummated with bodely knowledge Ye knowe that this acte for precontractes is repealed againe Anno secundo Edwardi sexti and restored to that force as once it was and so long before continued many hundreth yeres What do ye entend with such mariages as at this daie be a great meiny in Englande which began and were aduailable by force of that act seyng this act is now repealed Whether maie ye dissolue suche marriages and pronounce them nought seyng ye saie the ●orce of the olde Canons yea the force of a statute lawe too is in strength againe and debarryng euery man to vse that kinde of second contractyng for hereafter When ye haue well answered this one question I thinke suche as bée learned in the law could deuise more of suche kinde to set your gaie witte on worke And if ye list ye maie read that suche equitie was prouided for in the first yere of Kyng Edwarde the sixte in the .xj. Chapiter concernyng the peaceable enioiyng of mennes interestes geuen by acte before though afterward followeth a repeale by the Kynges letters patentes of the saied actes the parties might pleade the said actes repealed for there grauntes so enioyed by lawe I praie you cōsider whether these rules of the lawes folowing might not haue place in this cause where it is saied Factum legitimum retractari non debet licét casus postea eueniat quo nō potuit inchoari A facte that was once lawfull ought not to bee called into question againe although afterwardes there happen somethyng that myght hinder the beginnyng of it Et multa prohibentur fieri que facta tamen tenent Many thynges are prohibited to be doen whiche when thei once bée doone must yet stand Indultum a iure beneficium non est alicui auferendum A benefite graunted by law must be taken from no man If any cause might be reduced to the equitie of these lawes I thinke the cause of Matrimonie beyng Gods ordinaunce ought to bée indissoluble and not to be retracted Moreouer if these mariages aforesaied ought not to bee dissolued but muste enioye the benefite of that statute when it so stode though it be repealed for hereafterward why should that act of repeale made in the first yere of our soueraigne Ladie the Quéenes maiestie Quéene Marie takyng a waye only but the libertie for Priestes to marrie for hereafter impeache or hinder those lawfull mariages of priestes before aucthorised by as good lawe and as often tymes before these daies seen more then king Edwardes repeale cā or ought molest these mariages for their maner of contractyng Furthermore if vpon repeale of actes as ye do saie your slepyng Canons should therby be straight waie in force watching and wakyng to shewe their face to byte and barke as the ordinaries in some places would haue them I doubt whether al the Quéenes highnes subiectes should haue so quiet reste in their beddes as thei would wishe and as their forefathers before tyme prouided for them selues by kepyng this slepyng tye dogge in his kenell not to come to farre a broode for bityng And because this Ciuilian deliteth to skoure his wit in lawest I desire his resolution in one doubt rising by occasion of his forsaied determination whiche is that all Ecclesiasticall persons lieth open to the old Canons of the Churche by reason of this acte of repeale Kyng Edwarde in his first yere made a statute repealyng all maner actes before his tyme made for punishement of Heresies as well the acte of King Richarde the seconde made in his first yere the act of Henrie the .v. made in his second yere the actes of Kyng Henrie the eight made in his xxv yere the act of .vj. articles made in the .xxxj. yere one other act made in the .xxxv. yere concernyng qualification of the

their wiues thē thei shal go no higher And if thei be priestes beget children then thei shall not for that cause be promoted to any Bushopricke And in the fourth counsaile at Tollet the 43. Chap. it is saied ꝙ Clerici qui sine consultu Episcopi sui vxores duxerint c. separari eos oportet Suche clerkes as without license of their Bushop haue maried wiues muste bee separated Suche then as haue maried with consent assent of not onely their owne Diocessantes but of all the Busshops in England should be extremely dealt with if thei should be separated But if I should here report all suche Counsailes as maketh this the onely and most paine for maried priestes if thei will so continue to bee sequestered from their Ministrations or Benefices Epistola ad Oceanum I might saie with S. Hierom quod tantus numerus congregabitur vt Ariminensis synodi multitudo superetur So great a number should bee brought togeather that would passe the multitude of the Counsaile holden at Ariminum And here if ye bee desirous Master Martine for some suspicion that is in your head to knowe in what conference sainct Hierom speaketh this foresaied comparison Well it will bee little to your aduantage to heare it Therfore this is the confedence Carterius Hispaniae Episcopus homo etate vetus Sacerdotio vnā antequā baptizaretur alterā post lauachrum priore mortua duxit vxoremt arbitraris eum contra Apostoli fecisse sententiam qui in Catalogo virtutum Episcopum vnius vxoris virum preceperit ordinandum Miror autem te vnum protraxisse in medium cum omnis mundus his ordinationibus plenus sit non dico de Presbyteris non de inferiore gradu ad Episcopos venio quos si figillatim voluero nominare tantus numerus congregabitur vt Ariminensis Synodi multitudo superetur Carterius a Busshop of Spayne a man as well auncient of age as of Priesthode maried one wife before he receiued baptisme and after her death when he was baptised maried a seconde wife and thy iudgemēt geueth thee that he did contrarie to the mynde of the Apostle whiche in the bedroll of suche vertues as belong to a Busshop commaunded hym to be admitted to that ordre which should be the husband of one wife I maruaile saith S. Hierome that thou hast brought forthe for example but one onely man Carterius seyng all the worlde is full of suche as be in this wise ordered I meane not of Priestes onely or of ministers of the lower degree but I will come to Busshops whom if I would perticulerly rehearse by name there would arise suche a number that it would excede the multitude whiche were at the Counsell at Arymyne What hath the recityng of this saiyng of sainct Hierome holpen your whole cause if ye sticke to his aucthoritée For he saith that all the world is full of priestes and Busshops whiche were maried menne of two wiues one after an others death Secondly that he vnderstandeth sainct Paule a Busshoppe to be the husbande of one wife not as ye expounde it of hym that had neuer but one in all his life but so he haue but one at the tyme of his consecration Thirdly he calleth the beyng the husbande of one wife on of the vertues that belongeth to a Busshoppe If ye will maister Martin indifferently expende the moderations afore rehearsed ye shall perceiue that ye be to sore and rigorous to pronounce that Englishe Priestes already maried by lawe of the realme beside the depriuations of their liuynges and sequestration from ministryng should not be able to satisfie excepte thei remedie their no fault at all with separation And for further reforming of your iudgement herein you should do well to consider what prudence and moderation that noble and wise politike Prince Charles the v. vsed in his Interim for Germany where he found the whole estate of the Clergie geuing them selues to mariage without any publike or common consent of the law Imperiall For though in that order of doctrine he expressed his desier wisshyng that there could be found many in the Clergie whiche would liue a sole life and performe a true chastitie in deede yet bearyng with thē that had doen to the cōtrarie nether proceaded he against them by law to depriuation nor yet to separation but permitted them to continue stil in their ministratiōs and liuinges vpon what priuate authoritie soeuer thei tooke vpō them to marrie And might not the like tolleration haue béen in our realme after suche opē lawes passed in suche scarsitee of ministers in the realme where now through such extreme dealing as is vsed diuerse of the Queenes subiectes are driuen to great miserie and the state of the minesterie is left bare The like prudence equitee vsed Leo the first whē he went about to reforme certain abuses crepte into the churches of Afrike concernyng the disorderly orderyng of Busshops and Priestes Where he was enforced for that tyme to beare with some inconueniences chargyng neuerthelesse that the like should no more bee committed afterwarde And there he speaketh after this sorte Quia circumstant nos hinc mansuetudo clementiae In operibus Clementis Epistola 49. in Libris concilio●um Capi. 85. hinc censura iustitiae c. Because that on the one side standeth fauour and clemencie on the other side execution of iustice and because all the waies of the Lorde be mercie and truthe we be compelled agreablie to pitie that is in the Apostolike Sée so to temper our sentence by expēdyng the difference of offēces that some thinges we must tollerate some thynges vtterly dissolue Thus maie we sée of what meke spirite these fathers were in their gouernement to beare with inconueniences accordyng as the vrgent occasions of tymes did require in so muche that thei suffered mariages to stand that were contracted alreadie though contrarie to positiue lawe and were content for necessitee to forbidde them onely for afterward where one hotte Ciuilians harte should brast in his bodie if those Mariages should not be distracted that be made by open Lawe of the Croune and not against any one Lawe of Nature or God excepte it be against the Lawe of his God euen his that sitteth in the Temple of God shewyng hym self as God for the whiche presumption my Lorde of Duresme calleth hym bothe Lucifer and Antechriste to and my lorde of London and others calleth hym somewhat Ca. 13. ●atera KK 1. B. But I praie you what came into your head maister Martin so shamefully to slaunder Doctor Ponet for writyng that Mariage of Priestes were not forbidden before kyng Henry the firste where his wordes maie bée aduouched to bee moste true by witnesse of diuerse aunciente writers as well Diuines as Lawiers and Historiographers Henry Huntyngton saieth plainly these woordes Anselmus archiepiscopus ad festum sancti Michaelis concilium tenuit apud Londoniā in quo prohibuit vxores

a fornicator with many then to be twise maried Montanus and suche as folowe the scisme of Nouatus say that thei haue takē presumptuously vpon them the name of chastitie whiche thinketh that seconde mariages oughte to bee forbidden from the Churches Communion Wher the Apostle charged this thing of Bushops and Priestes and released it to other not that he moueth to seconde mariage but geueth pardon to the necessitie of the fleashe And surely to be a Bushop of Priest without blame and to haue one wife is in our power thus far S. Hierome And here againe maie wee learne what it is to fight in controuersies with mans reasons humaine aucthoritie yea though thei bee not craftely couched together contorted as the bragge of this mans booke standeth wholy vpon that poincte and to exclude the scripture or els to bring in the sci●iptures for a countenaunce but yet with violent gloses to drawe them against the heere to applie them to that sentence that is satteled in his head alreadie before he cōmeth to theim as it is this mannes greate grace in his whole booke And againe here wee maie expende howe circumspectly the Canonistes of Rome affirme that the writynges of the doctors and holie menne of the Churche muste bee holden to the vttermoste ynche Yea thei bee nowe commaunded to bee holden saie thei in all that thei write to the vttermost title Distinct. 9. Nol● For so thei speake in the booke of the decrées If this bee true then let Hierome be holden in this pointe or els let them rather force no further mans saiynges and aucthority then of right the authors themselues would be taken and red and as thei themselues vsed to take other mennes writings of what antiquitie aucthoritie soeuer thei were There is a great difference saith S. Augustine betwixt thaucthoritie of the Canonicall scriptures and the writynges of Bushops whether it be of our owne or of Hyllarius or Ciprian or any other And therfore saith he to Vincentius the Donatiste Epistola 41. stirre vp no quarel of their writynges for thei be not so to be redde that in suche wise their testimonies be brought in as though it weere not lawfull to iudge and thinke contrarie if perhappes thei thought otherwise then the truthe required These are his wordes Noli ergò frater colligere velle calumnias ex episcoporum scriptis siue nostrorum siue Hillarij siue Cipriani quiá hoc genus literarum ab authoritate Canonis distinguendum est Non enim sic leguntur tànquam ex eis testimonium proferatur vt contrà sentire non liceat si fortè alitèr sapuerint quam veritas postulat And in an other book of his de peccatorum meritis Libro primo Ca●itulo 22. he saieth cedamus consentiamus authoritati scripturae sanctae quae nescit falli néc fallere hominum est labi hallucinari falli fallere decipi decipere Paulo dicente Videte nèquis vos decipiat c. diuinae aūt scripturae robur nullum eiusmodi defectum admittit Lette vs geue place and geue our assente to the aucthoritie of holy Scripture whiche can not bee deceaued nor deceiue It is naturall to menne to slide to bee blynded Collossians 2. to be deceaued and to deceiue to erre and to induce to erroure as sainct Paule saieth take heede leste any man deceiue you by philosophie and wittie reason and by vaine subtilitie accordyng to mennes traditions accordyng to the elementes and ordinaunces of the worlde and not after Christ. As for the stabilitie of the scripture is not subiect to suche defaute And therefore saieth Cyrill Ad Reginas de recta fide Necessarium nobis est diuinas sequi literas in nullo ab earum praescripto discedere It is necessarie for vs to folowe the holy scriptures and in no point to shrincke from that thei do prescribe Yea let vs reade sainct Hierom and all other with that same rule as hymself redde other For in his Epistle to Mynerius and Alexander he saieth Non praeiudicata doctoris opinio sed doctrinae ratio ponderanda est sciat me illud apostoli libentèr audire omnia probate quod bonum est tenete c. Meum propositum est antiquos legere probare singula retinere quae bona sunt a fide Ecclesiae catholicae non recedere It is not the opinion of a writer in his iudgement so before declared that must be weighed so muche as the reason of his doctrine For I am glad saieth he to followe sainct Paules precept proue all thinges and holde that is good And also to giue heade to the wordes of our sauioure saiyng be ye wise and approued triars that if any Coyne be fourged and haue not the figure of Caesar nor is not striken lyke the currant Mony let it be reproued and that whiche clearly beareth the face and Image of Christe lette that bee laied vp in the purse of oure harte for further saieth S. Hierom I professe this as well in my youth as in my age that Origen and Eusebius weere very great learned menne but yet did erre in the trueth of doctrine In the ende he saieth it is my constant vse and purpose to reade the olde wryters to examine euery thyng to holde fast that is good and not to recede from the saieth of the catholike Churche But he●re leste this wryter shoulde take aduauntage by these wordes from the faieth of the catholike Curche it is not his minde to enclude the faieth of the Catholike Churche in suche notes persons and places as now men forceth on vs the faieth of the Catholike Churche For the aucthorities writinges of the Clergie in his tyme was not taken of hym to be the catholike churche for his saied opinion was clearly against the constitutions of the Bushoppes in his tyme. And as he saieth in a certen place ad Heliodorum ● q 7. Non omnes Episcopi sunt Episcopi attende Petrum sed Iudam considera c. Non est facile stare in loco Petri Pauli scilicêt tenere locum iam cum Christo regnantium c. Al be not Bushops that haue the name of Busshoppes marke Peter consider Iudas it is no easie thyng to stande in the place of Peter and Paule that is to holde the cheare of them that reigneth with Christe Thei be not the childrē of the sainctes whiche occupieth the place of the saintes but thei whiche perfourme their woorkes Infatuatum sal ad nihilum prodest nisi vt proijciatur foràs a porcis conculcetur The salt that is vnsauery is good for nothyng but to bee cast forth out of the doores and to be troden vnder foote And sainct Augustine saieth Non omnis qui dicit pax vobis quasi columba audiendus est Corui de morte pascuntur Hoc Columba non habet c. Not euerie one that saieth pax vobis must be hard as a Doue for Rauens féede of carreine the

commendation he went about to haue spoiled them for his sake but the nobilitee restrained his hastie and vnruly violence and attemptes Of whose doynges in diuerse countrees what hurte came vnto them by his hotte spirite how many thousandes were destroyed in seditions for his sake and what furie he shewed euen to some simple folkes that erred of simplicitee in a mattter of no greate importaunce for the precise daie of keepyng the Easter whiche menne were called quarto decimani it were to long to write of But in the ende this Nestorius for his vnworthie behauiour in pride and insolent extremitee woorkyng altogether contrary to the custome of the Churche saieth the historie againste suche heretikes God forsooke hym with his grace so that hym self was entangled with a certaine heresie whereof his Chaplen Anastasius who was in greate estimation with hym was the first deuiser Whiche he held strongly because he sawe his glory and estimation hange thereon But yet afterward at an other tyme perceiuyng daunger to bee at hande if he had not tourned Catte in the panne euen in an hower space as earnestly with it and as earnestly againste it in pretense and in woorde onely reuolted whereupon God I saie for so daliyng and foltryng in his conscience did reuenge it at the laste moste worthely in hym But first it was the occasion of a greate scisme that could not be pacified but by the Ephesine Counsaile whiche was specially for the condempnation of his erroure gathered together vnder Celestine And finally after his tongue was eaten with wormes died most miserably by Goddes hande as Nicephorus telleth Where he began in the catholike faithe but subtelly and not simplye weiyng the principles of the faithe proceadyng not fatherly but tirannically in his doyng died in heresie and is now regestred for an Arche heretike shal be so taken to the worldes ende Whiche storie yet I dooe not rehearse as though I would insinuate an immunitée to heretikes that troubleth the quiet of the common wealthe or as I were in that opinion wherein once yet S. Augustine was but by experience recanted his opinion that heretikes should bee suffered to doe and saie what thei lusted 48. Epistola ad vincentuo● and so by a little and little kendle the fire of intestine sedition to perill the whole body But I reporte it partly to note that extremitées of proceadynges doeth hurt and that sodaine alterations in Realmes maketh perturbations And yet my opinion is as the opinion of diuerse olde and newe learned menne be that it maie be borne with suche a manne whiche quietly liuyng in his state and in his owne conscience tariyng vpon Goddes workyng in his harte by hearyng and expendyng Goddes woorde to holde that whiche maie be to his soules saluation if he doe no outward déede and example to disturbe the Ciuile societée of the common wealthe where he dwelleth And this storie maie also serue for al kyndes of men to be a very fearfull example if we will in Gods causes daily at our pleasure for such I saie as out of one mouth breathe out bothe hotte and cold allowe and condempne the self same thyng with the tourne of their hande praiseth and dispraiseth as the daie tourneth very successours of Lybanius that inconstant Sophist or rather Sophister whiche with his eloquēce praised the Emperour Constantius by his life tyme and when he was once dead dispraised hym againe as faste Inconstaunte flatterers tournyng like Weathercockes not of conscience from the worse to the better but as the windes blowe so set vp the saile Whiche maner of menne muste néedes stande in feare that the vengeaunce of God hangeth nigh ouer their heades if thei repent not of their saiyng and vnsaiyng He can not but be spued out of Goddes mouthe that is neither hotte nor colde but will haite on bothe legges for the gaine of his peny Noughtee and deceiptfull menne saieth sainct Paule that will not be contente to erre theim selues but muste induce other into the same with them Menne that haue delight to be aucthours of sectes to haue the traine in pompe to followe theim whither soeuer thei goe vtterly tourned vpsidoune bearyng in them selues the iudgemente of their owne damnation Yea in conclusion pronouncyng the sentence of iust condempnation vpon them selues with their owne mouthes reproued and conuinced by their owne cōscience For as the wise man saieth Sapi. 17. Formidolosa res est malitia proprio teste conuicta in conscientia delitescens mala semper praesagit It is an heauy thyng when a mannes owne consciēce beareth recorde of his owne wickednesse and condemneth hym For a vexed and a wounded conscience taketh euer cruell thynges in hande and driueth hymself to an ende As we reade in the Ecclesiasticall storie Tripert Lib. Cap. 38. reported by Socrates who telleth of a certain Sophister called Hecebolus emong diuerse others whiche he saieth bearyng in pretence onely the Christian name of a corrupte mynde for that thei preferre their treasure and presente wealthe and honour before the dignitée of true faithe and therevpon fall to the wickednesse of Sacrifices The same Hecebolus saieth he folowyng and attemperyng hym self to the maners of the Emperours fained hym self in the daies of Constantius to be a most feruent Christian. But when Iulian the Apostata was ruler by and by he was a Panime and by his orations made Iulian a God And when Iulian was dead in Iouinians tyme he would haue béen a Christian againe Whereupon for the mutabilitée and lightnesse of his religion his conscience draue hym to the Churche gates and there caste hym self flatte doune and cried out with a loude voice Conculcate me sal infatuatū come saieth he and treade me vnder your feete vnsauery Salt that I am From whiche tournsicke spirite God preserue vs all Now to finishe that was promised to declare what moderations and tollerations hath been vsed before tyme and be at this daie to be séen in some other dominiōs of Christendome to shew the opinions of certen learned menne that bee knowen to haue had some iudgement in suche causes as well old as new that be of a farre other determination then this singuler Ciuilian is of I shall beginne with that noble Prince Charles the .v. Emperour that now is a Prince of some experience I thinke this aucthour will not deny me He vpon debatement of matters in religion wherewith his realmes and dominions were sore disquieted and disordred set out his booke of Interim written and published I thinke with the allowaunce of more heades then one expresseth a toleration in the Clergie for their wiues which were then maried And permitteth them in the Ministerie and yet not maried by any Lawe that was passed by his aucthoritée whiche he would neuer haue deferred to a generall Coūsaill but would haue flatly condēpned thē therin if it had béen of such nature as this writer would make this realme beleue And where as he wisheth as all wise

inconuenience And let not the scrupulous consciences of men be blynded in them selues as to iudge any impuritie in the bodyes of them which honestly vse gods institution of matrimonie De virg cap. 33. No Saint Austen doubteth not to say Quia fancta sunt etiam corpora coniugatorū fidem sibi domino seruientium that the bodyes euen of the maried folke be holye of such as preserue their fayth to them selues one to the other and their fayth to god And there in that discourse saint Austen proueth that the graces of continencie was not vnlyke in Iohn Cap. 21. who neuer had a do with maryage and in Abraham who had chyldren so that the chastitie of the one the matrimonie of the other came to one ende to serue the Lorde Agayne it may not be thought that for the worldly cares which may be in matrimonie priestes be more charged than for other cares and turmoyle of the worlde For suche carefulnes may assone defyle the puritie of the mynde as the cares which be in matrimonie Aswell be these carefull trauayles of the worlde forbydden to the priestes as cares which be in wedlocke De bono viduitatis cap. 23. God forbyd saith S. Austen to the wydows that ye shoulde be entangled with the desire of riches in steede of the cares of matrimonie that in your heartes money should beare the chiefe rule and so loue of money should be your husbandes Wherevppon Chrisostome wryteth Audiant hoc virgines Hom 19. 1. Cor 7. quòd non in hoc definita est virginitas corpore solum virgines esse c. Let virgins heare that virginitie is not in this poynt so concluded for the bodyes only to be in virginitie For she which hath the cares of seculer matters she is neither virgin nor honest And Theophilact saith 1. Cor. 7. When thou shalt beholde any virgin which hath vowed carefully inclined to worldly matters knowe thou certainly that she differs nothyng from a maryed woman And saint Hierome saith It wyll profite nothyng to haue the body of a virgin yf the mynde haue inwardlye maryed This affirme I saith Athanasius that euery virgin wydowe or woman continent yf she haue the cares of this worlde De virg those very cares be her husbande Whervppon I must conclude with saint Austen to these Desinant isti contra scripturas loqui Epist. 89. quest 4. Let these ceasse to speake against the scriptures And let them in their exhortations excite mens myndes to the more perfect state that yet they do not condempne the inferiour gyftes For some saith he in their exhortations can not otherwyse perswade virginitie but that therwith they condempne the matrimonial estate forasmuch as S. Paule saith plainely euery man hath his gyft of God one after this maner and another after that Thus farre S. Austen Better saith he is meke matrimonie then vauntyng virginitie In Psal. 99. And therfore the sayde saint Austen exhorteth virgins that they conioyne other agreable vertues as handmaydes which in deede do moste beautifie the true virginitie In Psal. 75. without which saith he the virginall lyfe either is dead in it selfe or els defourmed in it selfe and let the state be holy both in body and spirite seruyng God without seperation at all Of such myndes were the fathers in olde tyme so exhortyng to the single state of lyfe as mens frayleties myght beare the perfection and vsed no condempnation or compulsion but left it indifferent to the conscience of euery man So dyd that learned abbot Aelfricus afterwarde as some affirme archbishop of Canterburie prescrybyng a synodal sermon to be spoken by the bishoppes to the priestes after his reasons and swasions to the sole lyfe vsed these wordes Non cogimus violenter vos dimittere vxores vestras sed dicimus vobis quales esse debetis si non vultis nos ●rimus securi liberi a vestris peccatis quia dicimus vobis canones sanctorum patrum We do not compell you by violence to forsake your wyues but we declare to you what ye shoulde be and yf ye wyll not we shal be cleare and free from your offences for we haue shewed vnto you the canons of holy fathers This writer in all his whole sermon neuer chargeth the Englishe priestes with any vowe but only standeth vpon the constraynt of canons ecclesiasticall For before the conquest was neuer matrimonie once forbydden nor vowes of seculer priestes once receaued Nor Gildas that auncient Britaine in his sharpe inuection against all estates of his tyme after he had reproued the greatest personages and the regulers of their abuses he proceedyng to speake agaynst the seculer priestes yet in his processe he neuer chargeth them for breakyng any vowe but chiefely for that they were not contented with saint Paules graunt to be the husbandes of one only wyfe but contemned that his precepte and were the husbands of more wyues at once in such lewd libertie as he charged before the laitie to haue vsed them selues in renouncyng their former wyues to take newe and to haue many wyues at once without all regarde of Gods lawes and cōmaundement after such lyke sort as the Irishe men vsed tyll Henrie the seconde his dayes what tyme the kyng dyd write to pope Adrian of his purpose to reduce the Irishe nation to better religion Girardus Cambrensis The pope in his rescripte dyd well commende his good zeale and councelled hym to go forwarde but with this prouiso that because saith he all Ilandes that be turned to the fayth belong to the ryght of S. Peter and the moste holy churche of Rome the lande shoulde pay yerely to S. Peter for euery house a penye as pope Alexander folowyng ratified the same with the reseruation of the sayde payment for Irelande and bryngyng to memorie also his pencion for euery house of Englande So that whosoeuer toke payne and coste to set any nation in order or to bryng them to better beliefe the pope would lose nothyng thereby where yet tyll that tyme his fatherhood dyd most strangely suffer that people so outragiously to liue tyll the kyng toke the reformation Upon which letters sent by the kyng ▪ the sayde Adrian dyd confirme to hym and to his heyres of that kyngdome VValter Couent and did constitute them kinges therof for euer And further in the letters of the said king Henrie sent to the pope he professed to refourme their abuses to put Christes religion better amongst thē Shortly after the kyng sent his learned men to the archbishops bishops there who kepte a great councell at the citie of Cassalense wherein they dyd constitute that where before the Iryshe vsed to baptise the children of the greater men in mylke and of the poorer sort in water and that where the Irishe laitie had as many wyues as they woulde nowe they decreed that water only should be the element indifferently for all their chyldren and that they shoulde mary